Currently in networks using the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standard, information regarding a user of a mobile station can be stored in a Home Location Register (HLR). In general, the HLR can be a database of user (subscriber) information, i.e., customer profiles, used in mobile (cellular) networks such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) networks. The HLR contains user information such as account information, account status, user preferences, features subscribed to by the user, user's current location, etc.
In the Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture (for 3G and 4G networks) the HLR evolved to a Home Subscriber Server (HSS). Note, that depending on the architecture, the terms have similar meanings. The user profile in the HSS includes, among many other parameters, the list of Access Point Names (APNs) the user is permitted to use. APNs are typically used to segregate different types of traffic due to Quality of Service (QoS), security, billing or other considerations.
For example, in the GSM Association LTE Roaming specifications, separate APNs are recommended for IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) traffic and for general internet traffic. Network providers may segregate the traffic further, using different APNs for administrative traffic, wall-gardened applications (i.e. the provider's own applications and content), etc.
When the user is in her Home Public Mobile Network (HPMN), the network serviced by the network provider in which the user has her subscription, the network provider can control whether a given APN can be used by the user. The same can hold true if the user is roaming into a Visited Public Mobile Network (VPMN). However, even if a particular APN is not to be used while roaming, the HSS includes that APN in the subscriber profile provided to the VPMN. In roaming scenarios, the HSS in the HPMN provides this information to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in the VPMN.
The MME is a control-node for the LTE access-network, in that it can be a single point (or “node”) within the network that integrates numerous core functions and control over network flow, load sharing, etc. It can be responsible for tracking, paging, and retransmission procedures to the user's mobile station. The MME can also be involved in the user's mobile station activation/deactivation process and is also responsible for authenticating the user when the user is roaming, by interacting with the HSS.
Currently, to allow or restrict a user's access while roaming in a VPMN, the user's profile in the HSS must be edited to provide this information. This can be a tedious process given the number of users subscribed to a particular network and is compounded by the fact that a network provider can have over 500 agreements for roaming in other networks.
Further, while updating the relevant user profiles in the HSS can be automated there are drawbacks in terms of the amount of memory at the HSS to store the differing profiles and parameters and the cost associated with the memory and updates. Keeping the various profiles stored in the HSS can impact the performance of the database as well.
Hence a need exists to provide a mechanism to perform APN adaptation in LTE roaming scenarios without editing and storing individual subscriber profile provisioned at the Home Subscriber Server.